By Joyce Blumenshine

How about attending one of the Peoria area Earth Day celebrations this year?

Forest Park Nature Center will hold its annual Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 22nd from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 5809 N. Forest Park Drive, Peoria. A variety of displays, plant sales, food vendors, and information and entertainment will be available. Peoria Heights Public Arts Collaborative will celebrate Earth Day with the Peoria Heights Public Library, 816 East Glen Ave., by holding a ‘Garden Party ‘ from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fresh flowers and a variety of displays and art, of course, will be available. Other celebrations will be held across the area so check your local community calendars for information.

Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22nd, 1970, and the observance was hoped to bring attention to the need to conserve and protect earth’s resources and to encourage all to reduce, re-use and recycle. As we face a very rapidly changing climate and much more rapidly rising sea levels than earlier predicted, it is clear that much more needs to be done quickly to reduce CO2 levels in our atmosphere.